Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Words are meaningful. Literally, they are full of meaning. Letters clumped together to stand for definitions we often first learned in school. What happens when those in power hijack words for political gain?
Like the word patriotism. Now stained red as a MAGA hat. As if one can love their country only when they belong to a certain political party. Or is called anti-American if they don’t condone the autocratic rantings of the president. The one who declared in his first inaugural address, “When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.” Yet, to this day, one can clock his racist remarks by the hour.
Just ask Somali-born US Representative Ilhan Omar who’s served this nation since 2019. Trump calls her “garbage,” saying Somalis should “go back to where they came from.” Or former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle when the president shared a racist video portraying them as apes. Or consider our government’s aim to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion. Clearly, white nationalism, inequity and exclusion are not patriotism.
The New York Times reports hundreds of words this administration is purging from our federal government’s lexicon. (Hijacking via erasure.) The list includes: “advocacy,” “women,” “equal opportunity,” “promoting diversity,” and “sense of belonging.” Aren’t these words at the heart of patriotism? Those who love their country and the people within it?
Our Founding Father George Washington presciently warned in his farewell address: “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”
But by far, the term most warped by this administration is the word Christian; “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.” You know, the son of a carpenter who showed compassion to the needy. The Prince of Peace who said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12)
How does this administration (and those in Congress who support it) get away with blatantly appropriating the word Christian while dehumanizing others, weaponizing federal agencies, and assuring that those who have the least get even less?
Trump said, “Nobody has done more for Christianity or for evangelicals or for religion itself than I have.” Quite the absurd claim for a man who has profited over $4 billion while in office. Instead of holding the Bible upside down for a photo op, maybe he could open it to read what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “No one can serve two masters... You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)
Instead, the country gets “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which according to experts will hurt children, especially those in need. We’re talking food and healthcare. Moreover, this bill’s regressive tax structure means the poorest households will see a tax hike while the wealthy get a windfall of $117 billion in tax cuts in 2026 alone. So much for “do to others what you would have them do to you.”
Further antithetical to true Christian values of family and compassion is the intentional brutality of this administration’s enforcement of immigration policies: deliberate separation of children from their parents, masked men using intimidation tactics, violent raids, the targeting of communities including locations near schools, hospitals, and places of worship, inflammatory language describing immigrants as criminals to convince the public that the immigrant is “the other” when really we are all immigrants. And don’t forget the killing of Americans who had the fundamental right to protest protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The president said immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” calling undocumented immigrants “animals” and “not humans.” (Anyone else hear echoes of the Third Reich and how they used language to dehumanize others before persecuting them?)
Just last week, the president reposted content from a conservative radio host saying that today’s immigrants are “not like the European Americans of today and their ancestors” (code words for white), and “we’ve gone from the melting pot to the chamber pot.”
Need anyone mention that the president’s own mother, current wife, first wife, and grandparents all are or were immigrants to the United States? And likely the same can be said about everyone supporting this administration’s actions, all while hypocritically claiming to champion Christianity.
Did they forget Jesus began his life as a refugee fleeing persecution? Or that he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Or Jesus’ parable of the Samaritan about specifically helping those who seem different or foreign, defining even the enemy as one’s neighbor.
Besides, doesn’t being Christian demand more than rejecting inhumanity? Isn’t it about promoting nonviolence and cultivating compassion - especially for the most vulnerable among us?
Nowadays, the president goes as far as portraying himself as Jesus. Topping that blasphemy with lies to make us believe he was portraying a doctor. I don’t know about you, but my GP certainly doesn’t wear robes or hold a glowing orb of light. But what does Trump know anyway, he’s too busy insulting the Pope - the leader of the largest Christian denomination!
Listen, I understand this administration and its followers use Christianity as a way to manipulate voters. It’s hypocrisy at its most rank. A performative faith that corrupts.
What keeps me up at night is why many so-called Christians endorse this administration, one whose behavior is wholly incompatible with the core traits Christianity: love, peace, humility, forgiveness and, one more time, “do to others what you would have them do to you.”
The least we can do is not allow the word Christian to be a political marketing tool. To realign it with the actual work of Jesus Christ: mercy, healing, charity.
As a Christian, isn’t it worth considering one’s moral obligation to withhold support from those who act in sharp opposition to Christ’s teachings? After all, we can still love them as we love ourselves, we just don’t have to vote for them.